Men's Basketball Headline

Wednesday January 16, 2013Wilbekin Gladly Accepts Role as Defensive Stopper as Gators Head to Texas A&M

COLLEGE
STATION, Texas -- The defense was called “12 High.” It was full-court pressure
and Scottie Wilbekin’s AAU team overwhelmed opponents with it.

“We
pressed and pressed and pressed,” Wilbekin recalled this week. “I got all kinds
of steals and layups. It made me love playing defense.”

He
was 9 years old.

Now
19, Wilbekin’s passion for defense not only has intensified over the last
decade, but his reputation to play it exceeded him long ago. Since the day he
arrived as a freshman guard at the University of Florida, he’s been the most
tenacious defender in a Gators uniform. Now a junior, it’s just understood --
not even debated, really -- that Wilbekin will be matched against the other
team’s best perimeter offensive weapon.

Like
Texas A&M’s Elston Turner, for example.

Turner,
the 6-foot-5 guard, bombed Kentucky for 40 points last weekend in the Aggies’
83-71 upset win at Rupp Arena, becoming just the 11th player in to hang at
least 40 on the Wildcats in Lexington. The win not only was the program’s first
Southeastern Conference road victory, but provide a huge jolt of momentum for
A&M (12-3, 2-0), with the 10th-ranked Gators 12-2, 2-0) due Thursday night
at Reed Arena.

So
was Brandon Knight. Scotty Hopson, too. And Michael Snaer, Jimmer Fredette, Rotnei
Clark and John Jenkins. Wilbekin got a look at all the really good ones up
close as a freshman and they’re just kept coming.

He
loves it like that.

“There’s
just something he’s had inside him his whole life. He’s always taken pride in
being a good defender,” Coach Billy Donovan said of Wilbekin, who last week put
the clamps on Georgia guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (11 points, 0-for-3 from
the arc), the league’s No. 4 scorer and projected NBA first-round pick.
“Scottie’s never gotten a lot of notoriety as a scorer, even though he is a
good scorer. But he loves the challenge on defense -- and he’ll have another
challenge Thursday.”

Turner
went 14-for-19 from the floor at UK, hitting six of 10 from 3-point range, to
become the first player since LSU’s Chris Jackson in 1990 to rain for 40 in
hallowed Rupp Arena. He did it off pick and rolls, catch-and-shoots and from
the free-throw line, where he was 6-for-6.

Yes,
Wilbekin will have a challenge.

But
so will Turner.

The
Aggies swingman will need to work really, really hard to get the shots he wants
because of Wilbekin’s relentless ability to keep his man close and fight
through screens. He’ll get some, sure, but the game within the game could be on
which end of the 17.1 points Turner averages and 47 percent makes that he ends
up.

“It’s
Scottie’s will,” said UF assistant Rashon Burno, who was an outstanding
defensive point guard at DePaul. “He has an unbelievable desire to stop whoever
he is guarding and that’s where it starts, really. You’ve got to want to do it.
You have to have that in you.”

The
itch to defend may be rooted in “12 High,” but it waxed as Wilbekin got older,
the players around him got better and the challenges became greater.

As
he climbed through the club ranks, Wilbekin wanted the other team’s top
offensive threat.

By
the time he was 15 and 16 -- when players had developed reputations and the
college coaches were showing up for spring and summer tournaments -- that’s
when Wilbekin’s thirst for defense needed most to be quenched.

Like
the time his Nike Team Florida played a squad from New Jersey.

And
Kyrie Irving.

“That
was kind of difficult,” Wilbekin said.

But
he never backed down.

That
mindset stayed with Wilbekin throughout his career at The Rock School in
Gainesville, where he left after graduating in three years, and brought the
in-your-jersey defensive mentality with him to UF as a 17-year-old
freshman.

Senior
center Vernon Macklin didn’t need to play with Wilbekin much before he hanging
a label on the rookie, especially after seeing him stay with lightning-fast
point guard Erving Walker in pick-up games.

“Defensive
guy,” Macklin declared. “That’s you.”

As
a freshman, Wilbekin played in all 37 games for the SEC regular-season champion
that advanced to the Elite Eight. As a sophomore, he played in 37 more on
another NCAA region finalist and quietly improved an understated offensive
game, making 21 of 46 shots from 3-point range (a team-best 45.7 percent). His
assist-to-turnover ratio those first two seasons was better than 2-to-1.

Now
a junior, Wilbekin is doing everything better.

After
missing the season’s first three games for violating team rules, Wilbekin is
averaging 8.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists, while shouldering (gladly)
the responsibilities of being the Gators’ floor general on offense and primary
stopper on defense.

“He’s
got a lot going on, but I think it narrows his focus,” Donovan said. “He can
just get lost in just playing the game.”

For
Wilbekin, the defensive end is just as glamorous as the other end.

“Oh
man, his lateral quickness is amazing,” said UF freshman guard Michael Frazier,
who has to face Wilbekin daily. “He’s able to cut you off everywhere you go and
his ball pressure is great.”

That’s
not all.

“He
does a good job of getting all the other guy’s nerves, and not by talking or
anything like that,” junior center Patric Young said. “He just really annoys
guys with how hard he plays. It takes them out of their comfort zone.”

All
the while remaining in his. The harder, the better.

Here
comes another.

“When
I know he’s their best player and known for being a scorer, I just lock in,”
Wilbekin said. “I love it. I really do, and I can’t wait to see what
happens.”

Need to know: The Gators have won four
straight, including home and road openers in the Southeastern Conference
against Georgia and LSU, respectively, by a combined 55 points. This one figures
to be different, though, as league newbie Texas A&M welcomes its first
top-10 ranked SEC opponent to campus. The Aggies opened their inaugural
conference campaign with an 18-point home win against Arkansas and 12-point
road upset of reigning national champion Kentucky. ... UF and A&M have
played three times, with the Gators holding a 2-1 edge in the series, including
an 84-64 win Dec. 17, 2011 in the Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, Fla. ... The
Gators will be without junior F Casey Prather, who went from key reserve to
starter the previous two games and was averaging 8.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and
shooting 69.5 percent over previous four games. Also, backup F Will Yeguete
(6.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg) has been limited in practice with a sore knee, so how much
he plays could be determined during the game. ... UF, though, gets back senior
G Mike Rosario (12.3 ppg) back from the sprained ankled that sidelined him at
Baton Rouge. ... UF is led by senior G Kenny Boynton (13.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg), who
last week passed both Erving Walker and Udonis Haslem to become the No. 3
all-time scorer in Florida history with 1,782 points. Boynton, despite two
blistering performances from 3-point range (and one poor one) the last three
games, is still trying to find some consistency from long distance (35.5
percent for the season). ... F Erik Murphy (12 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and C Patric Young
(11.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg), plus PG Scottie Wilbekin (8.1 ppg, 4.7 apg) figure to
round out the starting lineup (with Boynton and Rosario), though look for
increased minutes from freshman G Michael Frazier II, who pitched in for seven
rebounds, three assists and a career-best 31 minutes at LSU. ... Florida tops
the SEC in scoring margin (plus-21.6), along with scoring defense (52 ppg), but
will be challenged by an A&M squad with four players averaging in double
figures, led by 6-5 G/F Elston Turner (17.1 ppg, 3.8), who ripped Kentucky for
40 last weekend. ... Up front, the Aggies boast 6-9, 230-pound Ray Turner (11.4
ppg, 6.5 rpg) and 6-9/235 Kourtney Robertson (6.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg), two big
reasons why A&M leads the SEC in rebounding margin at plus-15 and
outmuscled UK for 19 offensive boards in their game. ... A&M ranks third in
the SEC in scoring defense, allowing just 59.4 points a game. UF averages 73.6
per game, so look for a battle of wills when it comes to tempo, although the
Gators may opt to scale back their pressing ways due to depth issues. ... As
well as the Aggies are playing now, they’ve had their lulls this season,
including a home loss to Southern when they scored just 51 points. They also
lost neutral-site games against Oklahoma and St. Louis, scoring only 49 points
in the latter and made just eight of 18 free throws.